Treefulness

-=< O >=-

[BLAST FROM THE PAST]

From as far back
as I can remember, I’ve
always been interested
in trees; their shapes
and sizes, and the
patterns of their
branches and
leaves
.

I
remember
my mother often
pointing out trees she
thought were beautiful,
so maybe that’s where
I got it from
.

When learning to draw,
trees were a natural
starting place
and one
of the rooms
in our house has
a wall filled with
various tree
images
.

I was asked
to comment on them
while hosting a small family
reunion one year, and nervously
tried to explain the thoughts
behind each one
‘on the fly’
.
I got
flustered
by interruptions,
trying to compose
while speaking,
and the result was
an incomplete failure,
but here is a collection of
images followed by what
I might have said about
them if I was a better
impromptu speaker
:

EDEN

I can’t remember if this
was done in middle school
or first year of high school,
but I was proud of
myself for using
pens

(can’t erase!)

-=< O >=-

The blue dots
were done with a felt tip,
and I liked it so much, I created
a larger artwork using dots;
an image of a baby’s
face looking up
at the sky
.

A teacher
offered me $20 for it,
but I wish I had saved
a copy of it. I would
love to see it again
!

Anyway,
back to trees
…

APPLE

If I hear
the word ‘tree’
out loud, the image that
immediately pops into my mind
is either an apple tree or an oak,
and I can’t predict which
one will appear first

(mood?)

This image is
the concept of
fruitfulness in
a simple
form
:

-=< O >=-

It also
represents my
long-time enjoyment
of ‘coloring’
.
I remember
sitting with my children
with crayons, colored pencils
or markers, and the times we
all got together to make
Mother’s Day Art
for Cyndi
.
Those
are some of
my favorite
memories
…

TIKI

One
year we took
a family vacation
to DisneyWorld
.
I started noticing the
Tiki carvings around the
resort we were staying in,
and used a black Bic pen
to outline this design,
with pencil shading
.
I love
the pattern
of the foliage
.

-=< O >=-

Of course,
I had to try a
‘Family Tree’
!!!

FAMILY

The large trees represent
Cyndi’s family and my family,
the intertwined branches are
marriages, and the green
stalks are children
:

-=< O >=-

There were
more marriages
and children after
I made these trees
!!!

-=< O >=-

Oh,
I should
also mention
the icon image
;

CHANGE

It represents
how trees are always
changing through
the seasons
.

You see
the first leaf
starting to turn as
autumn approches
…

-=< O >=-

Well,
that’s most of
my tree collection
.
Hope you enjoyed
seeing them
.

(Thanks for asking, Edee!)

-=< O >=-